‘Pendergast’ Novels Finally Making Their Way to the Screen

Honestly, this is some of the most exciting news that I’ve read in a very, very long time.

The Hollywood Reporter just posted an exclusive that The Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd has been hired by Spike TV to adapt Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s best-selling book series in to a scripted series, to be written by John McLaughlin (Black Swan), who along with Hurd will Executive Produce the series.

The show is set to be titled, Pendergast, and season one is reported to follow the titular Special Agent of the FBI, as he investigates a present-day crime that mimics a century-old mystery. The plot sounds very akin to that of Preston & Child’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’, which started a continuing story arc that has spanned over 14 years and 13 novels.

Preston & Child’s first novel, Relic, was adapted for the big screen back in 1997 and garnished mixed to negative reviews. Special Agent Pendergast made his first appearance in the novel version, but his part was cut from the film, a mistake that this new series can hopefully rectify. Paramount, the film’s distributor, has held the rights to the character since the 90’s, and still do, so they will also be working with Hurd and Spike TV on the project.

Personally, having been a huge fan of the series since the beginning, I see a huge opportunity for a series here. The film version of The Relic did the novel no justice, and it’s about time that these characters were given a proper chance to shine. The existing stories have been well written, and lend themselves perfectly to the pacing of a television series. My biggest hope is that the producers collaborate with Preston & Child when doing the writing. The last few years have seen a number of successful adaptations, including Game of Thrones and Hurd’s own project, The Walking Dead. Both of these series worked very closely with the creators of the characters, and while there have been departures from the original stories, they have both maintained a compelling story that stays true to the original concept.

There’s no word yet on a projected release date, but you can be sure that I’ll pass on any information that I find! In the meantime, head over to http://www.prestonchild.com/ and get caught up on the novels before the series hits!